Judge allows Apple and Motorola to meet in an injunction hearing next week

A patent dispute ruling is near, but neither company will win a dime in damages.

Judge Richard A. Posner of the Northern District of Illinois made a somewhat unexpected decision to grant a hearing next week where he will determine whether Apple is entitled to injunctive relief for patent infringement by Motorola. The judge may also determine whether Motorola can seek similar relief for a single instance of patent infringement by Apple, but the terms of Motorola's patent make such an outcome much less likely.

Last week, Ars reported that the judge canceled the upcoming jury trial for this particular Apple v. Motorola suit because he ruled that neither company would be entitled to damages—which would require a jury to decide. And in last week's decision, Judge Posner seemed uncertain as to whether he would even permit a bench hearing for the two companies to seek injunctive relief. But, in an apparent change of heart, Judge Posner said that both companies would be able to file briefs, and would be heard in a courtroom at 10am on Wednesday, June 20, to determine whether Apple or Motorola will have the right to bar the other from continued use of their patents.

While both companies originally came to this case with lists of patents that the other had infringed, Judge Posner got Apple to whittle its list down to four patents, and forced Motorola (now owned by Google) to narrow its list down to one patent, which concerns a "method for performing a countdown function during a mobile-originated transfer for a packet radio system." That method is considered "3G-essential" according to FOSS Patents, and must adhere to FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) licensing terms. Judge Posner noted that, “if Motorola means to argue for injunctive relief it should be prepared to address the bearing of FRAND on the injunction analysis."

Apple and Motorola are entangled in a similar case with the International Trade Commission. Motorola has asked the ITC to ban Apple (and Microsoft) from importing goods that use its unlicensed technology. The FTC sent a public memo last week warning against such bans, despite the ITC's ruling that both Apple and Microsoft did, in fact, infringe on Motorola's patents.